Jamie xx returns with In Waves

Jamie xx is back with his first solo album in a decade, and it’s worth the wait. In Waves blends upbeat rhythms with a sun-drenched, tropical sound, landing as the perfect elongation of the summer season. Despite being crafted during the pandemic—a time often associated with gloom—this album is refreshingly vibrant and far from somber. Known for his role in the band The xx, Jamie xx has expanded his musical horizons with this lively solo project. His recent collaborations with Honey Dijon and Kelsey Lu bring new dimensions to the album, showcasing fresh facets of his creativity. In Waves also draws inspiration from unexpected sources, including his passion for surfing, and the joy and emotion of recent weddings. Dive into our conversation with Jamie xx as he discusses the release of his long-awaited solo album, the impact of his new collaborations, and how his personal passions and recent experiences have shaped his music. 

Hi Jamie, nice to meet you! How’s Amsterdam? Have you been able to explore at all?

Not bad. Not really, this time. I got in really late last night and basically just been in this little room all day. I’m going to Stockholm straight after.

Damn. 

It’s a whirlwind. But it’s all good. I’ve got to spend a lot of time here before and it’s fun.

 So we’re here to discuss your new album, of course, congratulations! How does it feel to release a solo project after so long?

It feels like a relief.

You’ve been working on it for ages.

Or thinking about it for ages. Definitely worked on it for quite a long time as well. But yeah, it feels good. It’s early days. These are my first interviews, so it’s been interesting actually talking about it for the first time.

When you’re looking at something for so long, it can be hard to close the chapter. How did you know that it was finally finished? 

I mean, I finished it like eight times and I thought it was finally finished every time. But this time, I can’t touch it anymore. It’s like actually out in the world.

Do you have a hard time letting go of your work?

I am a perfectionist, I feel like there’s always something that could be better with everything. So it’s definitely hard to know when to stop. It was meant to come out at the end of this month, sooner than it will come out now. And then I got the test pressings done and they didn’t sound good. Well, they sounded good, but not good enough.

What was wrong about it?

There was just like sibilance, like all the S’s were distorting a little bit. And there was this one more track, which is the track that’s coming out today with Robin. And I hadn’t finished it in time to make it on the album. And then I happened to be with Robin at the time in Stockholm, and then it all just felt quite meaningful. So then I pushed the album back and managed to fit Life on, so it all worked out

So being able to add this one song was actually what made it perfect.

I think so, yeah.

Nice. I’m excited for that. You worked on this album a lot during the pandemic, right? Do you feel like there’s a pre-pandemic Jamie XX and a post-pandemic one?

I guess so. It was just like a moment to pause and think about what’s happened over the last however many years I’ve been doing this. And I basically had been doing the same thing since I was 17. And that kind of lifestyle just makes you always think about what’s coming next, and when the next gig is, when the next album is. And you just don’t get much time to reflect. So then that moment where I had to stop was actually great. I didn’t know I needed it. And I think it did change me, yeah. I’ve been focusing on trying to be a bit more present and aware, and enjoy what I’m actually doing in the moment, rather than thinking about the next thing. And I’m trying very hard to keep that mindset at the moment. Already I can see why I felt like that at the time, even just the last couple of weeks doing this and bouncing around.

Even just today and then going to Stockholm after. There’s not a lot of time to be very present.

No, exactly.

 You’ve said in an interview before, there was no option but to stay home and create. What pulled you through? What inspired you to go on with it?

I think I basically just went back to how I started making music when I was a teenager, which was listening to the music of my youth, which was basically soul music, jazz music, and sampling and doing production similar to how I was when I was starting out. And I was just figuring it all out for myself. And I was literally only doing it for myself. I wasn’t playing it to anybody. And with the sort of unknown of when things were gonna happen again, it was just a very calm space to be able to get back to that place.

It’s actually really interesting that this album feels a lot more upbeat. There’s always been this tropical touch in your songs. But this one especially feels a lot more sunny. I’m getting beach vibes. And I’m wondering, what’s the shift?

I guess, when everything opened back up, and I just started playing a lot again, I was testing all of these bits out when I was playing. And I would watch the crowd and like, do a different demo every day. And that’s how I refined the songs. So I think naturally the album ended up sounding more like one of my DJ sets.

And how do you feel that producing and doing DJ sets interplays? Do you approach it very differently?

The best thing about dance music is that it evolves really quickly, more than most other genres. And there’s always something interesting going on in some part of the world. And I’m trying to stay on top of it. Just as a DJ, like it’s part of the job to be at the forefront of it. And it’s just fun. And it’s always inspiring. Like, even though I haven’t released an album in 10 years, I’ve been playing the same sorts of gigs for that amount of time.

And so this more upbeat version of your album, if I can say that, I also feel like it will speak to a broader audience. Do you feel like you’re looking for a new audience or that your audience has grown into this?

I really don’t. I try not to think about the audience in that way. I definitely did for a while, especially as dance music has basically become pop music at this point. I went through a tricky patch where I just didn’t know why I was doing it. The thing I loved about dance music was that it felt like it was mine. Growing up in London, there was a specific community with a unique sound coming from the area I was in. It felt very tribal, very connected to that small community. So, I had to put blinders on and not think too much about it.

So sampling is really an important part of your musical journey. Can you talk me through the process of finding samples and texturising them and making them you?

I’m just always buying records. And there’s always a part of my brain that’s thinking about that. And that’s how I started making music in the first place. It was based around samples. And listening to artists like the Avalanches trying to work out by ear how the hell they made that music. Because at that point, there wasn’t… I mean, I was 11 years old. And there weren’t YouTube tutorials on how to make stuff or anything. But that was part of the fun, the mystery of it. So I still, especially after the pandemic, I kind of just went back to that very basic way of hearing something, being excited and inspired by it, and then trying to flip it.

And so you’re working with Honey Dijon. How is that?

It’s great. I mean, we played a show together in Spain a long time ago. And she’s just so good at what she does. And then it was some point during one of the lockdowns, and she got in contact asking to make some music together. And at that point, I was still searching for a reason to make an album really, or like an easy way in. I was just overthinking everything because I was thinking about myself. And then as soon as it was like for her, or like the pressure was off me, then that track came out of me really fast. And we had a really good back and forth. It opened a door. Very nice.

Nice – were you able to work physically together?

No, because it was mid-pandemic. It was just, we just had some Zooms and talked about the tune and talked about her album and just good chats. I mean, she’s got great taste. And she’s been doing this for a very long time. So she knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s very straightforward in just the way she speaks which is very helpful.

And was it the same with Kelsey Lu and John Glacier?

Yeah, with Lu. They’re all different types. Yeah. I mean, everybody who ended up on the album as a collaboration, pretty much everyone, is like, I had a pre-existing relationship with. And like, that made it more meaningful. Like, I did a lot of other attempts at collaborations. But yeah, I’ve only realised this doing interviews recently, but everybody actually has some meaning in my life, which is really nice.

That’s cool. So they weren’t as involved in that sense as Honey Dijon with the direct contact?

It was probably because it was pandemic. Most of it was all over email anyway, all the collaboration, even the stuff with the avalanches. Like we hung out and they came to stay at my house in LA and stuff. But the actual music making has been quite separate, which I think works for me. Also, I’m just very slow. I’m just sitting with somebody in a room. It’s not very exciting for them.

That’s funny. Why do you think you work slowly?

I guess I get lost in it. I love that feeling and it’s very meditative for me to make music, but I can just sit there and like a day goes past and I have no idea what I’ve done. And it probably ends up sounding a lot worse. But that’s just, I’ve come to terms with the fact that that’s just my process. So I’d rather not always have someone else that you look up to, like sit next to you and get lost with you. I mean, sometimes it can help, like when I’ve done writing sessions with pop stars and people like that, where the pressure is on, you have to perform quickly. They come up with some good ideas and it’s a good way to expand your way of working. But then I go home after the sessions and I’m so happy just to be able to make music.

Yeah, it’s nice that you guys were able to get back together for a song. Can you talk me through the visual references in the Treat Each Other Right video?

Yeah, so my friend Rosie directed it. She was living with me in LA for a bit in one of the lockdown periods. And there was nothing to do in LA except go surfing in the morning and then come back and we both worked separately but in the same room. And she’d just hear my noises and I would occasionally look over and see what she was doing. And it was just a really inspiring time. It’s like one of the favorite times of my life. And so when it came time to do videos, it just seemed to make perfect sense. I just wanted her to do whatever she wants to do because she’s so brilliant and it’s left up to her.

What was the most fun part about making that album?

So many good bits. I mean, playing all these tunes out at festivals and in clubs was really fun and a new way of working for me. Because we’d done that as a band. We started playing all of our music in pubs before the album came out, the first album. And we’d written all that stuff just to play live. But you’re concentrating so hard on not fucking the song up that you can’t really tell if people like it or not. But this time, because, you know, with the DJing and the fact that I’m so comfortable with it now, I could really gauge the audience. And it was a very fun way of working. 

Yeah. Was there ever any moment where you were like, oh, damn, this didn’t really work? 

Oh, yeah, loads of those. They’re very helpful, but they don’t feel so good at the time.

No, exactly. In the end, maybe you’ll look back at it like, oh, OK, it’s good that I didn’t put that on. But in the moment, that’s tough. And what are you most excited for on your tour?

I’m excited for people to have heard the music. Because every time I’ve played all this stuff out, nobody actually knows it. And I’m excited to have my dancers back because that’s always really fun. We’re going to do a tour with them and they kind of dance in the crowd and we film them in the crowd. And then people start getting more elevated by the dancing. And it’s just really fun to see. And it kind of takes the focus off me a little bit as well. Yeah, that’s nice. 

Cool to get the dancers back. I didn’t know you did that.

It’s been a recent thing in the last year, a couple of years. But super fun. Yeah. What kind of work would that be doing? Well, it was a mixture because I started doing this… I was working with Una Doherty, who’s the person who’s speaking on the last track on the album. She’s a choreographer and I did a dance piece for her. And then she chose all these dancers and helped choreograph their initial movements for my shows. And so it’s kind of just built naturally.

And surfing, did you get into that? 

We were on tour in Japan and then we had to go to Toronto and we stopped over in Hawaii for a couple of days. This was like 10 years ago and I went surfing there for the first time and it changed my life, like one wave, that was it. And I’ve been hooked ever since. 

Is that why your album’s called In Waves?

Well, there’s many meanings. I mean, surfing is so outside of music for me. It’s great to have something that I’m that passionate about that is not the thing that I do for a living. So it’s helped me in that way, but it’s actually not very good for making music because whenever I go surfing, I feel so satisfied by it that I don’t need to do anything else.

Would you ever go to Nazare?

I really want to go and watch. I’m not going on those massive waves.  

What can inspire you outside of music or what has inspired you lately?

I mean, I didn’t expect this, but I’ve been to a few weddings in my life. Yeah, and I haven’t really loved them. It’s a lot of socialising and bearing your soul. And then I went to my best friend’s wedding two weekends ago and I was the best man. And I had to do a speech, and I was part of the ceremony and everything. And it was like three days long, and I left feeling so full of love and happy, and I get it now. That’s the most inspiring thing I’ve done in a while, and I really didn’t expect it.

Are there any other projects that you’re working on right now? Because you’ve also done stuff with dance for other purposes than your own albums, right?

I’d love to do another dance thing if the right opportunity comes along. And I think the main thing is now the XX album. That’s what we’ll be focusing on. Yeah.

Can’t wait.

Me too.